Children who are overweight may have an increased risk of developing cancer of the oesophagus (food pipe) later in life, a new study has found.

Researchers in Denmark analysed the health records of over 255,000 school children who were born between 1930 and 1971. The height and weight of these children were measured every year from when they were seven years old until they reached the age of 13.

The researchers were able to use this information to assess the children's body mass index (BMI). They then looked at rates of oesophageal cancer among the participants as they aged.

They found that children who were overweight or obese between the ages of nine and 13 had an increased risk of developing this type of cancer later in life.

Based on their findings from the 1930s to the 1970s, the researchers calculated that over 2% of all cases of oesophageal cancer in men could be attributed to boys being overweight or obese by the age of 13.

However, due to the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity in childhood, they estimated that this figure could rise to almost 18% - in other words, in the future, almost one in five cases of oesophageal cancer in men could be down to their excess weight in childhood.

"Our results suggest that the increase in the number of overweight and obese children might lead to a significant rise in future cases of oesophageal cancer.

"It may be that being overweight as a child is directly linked to a higher risk of developing this cancer in later life. Or it might be that overweight children are more likely to become overweight adults, and we know that being above a healthy weight as an adult is a risk factor for many cancers, including oesophageal," commented Dr Jennifer Baker of the University of Copenhagen.

She added that more research is needed in this area, ‘but however the link works, our results underline how important it is for children to be a healthy weight'.

Ireland currently has one of the highest rates of oesophageal cancer in Europe, with over 400 cases being diagnosed here every year. However according to the Oesophageal Cancer Fund (OCF), if caught early enough, the disease has a high cure rate.

Details of these findings are published in the British Journal of Cancer.